Second Chance
by Musa00
Summary: A redone version of a story I wrote years ago. Sarah Williams lies on her deathbed and wonders of how life would have been if done differently. Perhaps she may know. S/J
1. Chapter 1

Sarah Williams sat in a chair staring out the window. Her toes curled on the cold hospital floor and she sighed. From the door her stepmother watched her worriedly. No one deserved this, not Sarah. She walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Sarah turned her gaze to her stepmother and whispered, "Don't touch me."

Karen's hand covered her mouth as tears glazed her eyes, "I'm sorry."

Unmoved by her words Sarah's head only turned back to the window. Snow slowly began to fall outside, snowflakes dancing in the air freely and carelessly. Sarah envied them, why couldn't she dance so freely and carelessly? She listened to her stepmother's footsteps left the room and the door closed. Tears now glistened in her eyes and she began to cry.

"It's not fair."

"_You say that so often, I wonder what your basis of comparison is?"_

Her eyes snapped open wide and she stopped for a moment. It had been so long since she thought about The Labyrinth or the Goblin King. It had been seven years since she had ran The Labyrinth. She tried to tell herself it had never happened and that it was all a dream. But deep down she knew the truth. Sarah closed her eyes and remembered that arrogant smirk he always wore on his lips and the dark mismatched eyes. She smiled, from what she remembered of him, he was not that bad looking.

"Jareth…" She whispered. As much as she wanted to deny it, she wanted to see him in the flesh again. She had grown up so much since that incident seen years ago. Now Sarah was a twenty-two year-old young woman and starting life. She frowned, or she was going to start life. Now it didn't look like she would ever get live life.

A knock at the door startled Sarah and she looked up as a young doctor walked in.

He looked at his papers and then at her, "Sarah Williams?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

The doctor smiled grimly and pulled up a chair and sat down. "I'm afraid you only have two months left at the very most. The cancer spread more then we thought…"

Sarah stared out the window and toned out the doctor's words. Two months, at the most? She still had yet to graduate college, fall in love, have a career and… Sarah's teeth clenched as she though of all this and she pounded her fist against the window, "No!"

The doctor, startled, stopped his rambling, "I'm sorry Miss Williams. I know this must be difficult for you, but-"

"Please, I just want to be alone." She interrupted. The doctor nodded slowly and left the room, closing the door behind him. Sarah looked at her reflection in the mirror hanging on the sick pale pink wall. Her face had grown thin and pale from all the treatment she had gone through. Her eyes began to tear as she took her wig off, "All for nothing." She whispered. She stood up and placed it back on and walked over to her bed. All she could hear were her weak feet padding across the cold floor to the hospital bed. She climbed in and began to cry.

"_I'll be there for you, as the world falls down." _

She wished someone would hold her and tell her everything would be alright. She wished to be whisked far, far away from this horrible place and taken to an enchanting land. "Stop." She told herself. "You can wish all you want but no one will come, you will die alone. Wishes are not real, only some fairytale we tell ourselves."

That afternoon soon turned into a cold and crisp night, with the snow still falling softly to the ground. A knock on Sarah's door awoke her and a small nurse came in with a nervous smile carrying a tray of hospital food. "Hello Miss Williams, I'm here with your dinner."

"Thank-you." Sarah answered lifelessly. She sat up and the nurse placed the tray in front of her. Sarah poked around at the food and slowly ate.

"Looks like winter decided to come early this year." The young nurse watched the snow fall outside the window.

"Do you say that to all patients?" Sarah asked coldly. Silence filled the air and she finished her dinner. The nurse took the tray and quickly left the room. Sarah looked at the clock beside her bed which read six pm. A small smile formed on her lips as she remembered how her brother and parents brought her things from home to make her feel a bit more comfortable. As comfortable as you could in a hospital. She picked up a picture of her and Toby at the park. She remembered that day is if it were yesterday. It was a sunny day, the green grass was so soft and all the flowers smelled so sweet. She and her family had decided to go for a picnic, and have some family time. She and Toby had played catch while her parents just relaxed and escaped the loud city. That day had been a week before she found out about her cancer. Sarah placed the picture back down and sighed. Soon her eyes began to feel heavy, and reluctantly Sarah succumbed to sleep.

The sound of laughter and glasses clinking filled Sarah's ears. She slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a masquerade, filled with many glorious gowns and masks. This all seemed too familiar to her. She felt her hair, which was pinned back, and a small smile formed on her lips. Her hair. She then looked down at herself to see she was wearing an extravagant, glittering, white gown.

"I know this from somewhere…" Memories quickly began to flash through Sarah's mind as she remembered her run through the Labyrinth. It definitely had been no dream. It all felt so familiar.

"_I've brought you a gift."_

"_What is it?"_

"_It's a crystal. Nothing more. But if you turn it this way and look into it, it will show you your dreams. But this is not a gift for an ordinary girl who takes care of a screaming baby." _

"_You have thirteen hours in which to the solve the Labyrinth, before your baby brother becomes one of us…forever"_

"_Tell me Sarah, what do you think of my Labyrinth?"_

"_Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave!"_

"Jareth!" Sarah's eyes frantically scanned you crowded ballroom in search of the trickster. She began pushing through the people who didn't seem fazed by her actions or words, as they just kept on laughing, drinking and dancing. She kept pushing past the guests searching the room, trying to find him. "Jareth!" She called out once more. Sarah pushed and pushed past the endless waves of people. The music playing felt like it was slowing down, everything was beginning to slow down, and Sarah twisted her neck everyway hoping to just catch a glimpse of the Goblin King. Breathing was becoming difficult as the air felt thick and hot, her vision blurring and swaying. Sarah clutched her head and crouched down, "Wake up Sarah, wake up!"

"May I have this dance?"

That voice. Sarah lowered her arms and opened her eyes to see a hand in front of her. Sarah's breathing went to back to normal as did the speed of everything else around her. Her gaze followed up to the hand and arm to see whom it belonged to. Slowly she stood up and looked him in the eyes, each a different color with strands of blonde hair falling over them. His delicate lips formed that smirk that she could never forget. Sarah's lips trembled as she tried to find the words to say something, anything. "Jareth." Her hand shook as she lifted it up to accept his hand. The closer her hand came to his the more everything around them faded away. Just as Sarah's finger tips touched the palm of his hand she began to fall, as the ground beneath her shattered into millions of peices. Just as surprised as she was Jareth's face contorted into confusion. The last thing she saw were his lips saying her name.


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah's eyes brimmed with tears as she woke up from the surreal dream and found herself back in the haunting private hospital room. Her hands shook as her hand went to touch her head in hope that her long chestnut hair to be there but was met with a smooth scalp. She dropped her hand and noticed her dull brown wig lying on her bedside table. Sarah let out a small sob and covered her face with her hands. She stayed like that in the dark empty room until she fell back to sleep but only this time into a dreamless sleep.

Recent days were all the same for Sarah, tests, medicine and spending a plethora amount of time in bed. Due to this excess amount of time Sarah's mind would often wander and much to her displeasure, back to her dream of the Goblin Kind and his labyrinth.

"Stupid dream." Sarah muttered as her mind had wandered for the sixth time that morning back to that dreadful place. She snatched a magazine on her bedside stand that was looking worn due to reading it excessively. The ticking of the clock on the wall and her weak fingers turning the pages were the only sounds filling the air. She rolled her eyes as she scanned the toothpick models, "Stupid models." Her emerald eyes then looked down at her own withering and dying body. Her pale skin that once had a healthy glow was stretched over her gaunt body. Her eyes no longer shone with life and were filled with a helpless glint. She broke the eerie silence with a frustrated yell and hurled the magazine across the room. A young nurse with a stony expression passing by her door stopped and entered. She picked up the magazine nimbly and began thumbing through as if Sarah wasn't there. She was tall woman who looked to be in her mid twentys with strawberry blonde hair tied back in a loose bun and had a face that belonged on one of the pages she was looking through.

"Excuse me, but what do you think you're doing?" asked an irritated Sarah.

"You know some of these celebrities have really let themselves go." The nurse shook her head keeping her stoned expression and walked over to Sarah's bedside stand to place the magazine back. She turned her gaze to Sarah and smiled brightly, "You gave me an excuse not to go over and change someone's bedpan hun, thanks." Sarah only stared at the strange mannered nurse not knowing what to say. Suddenly the nurse seemed flustered and stuck out her hand, "Ah how rude of me! My name is Diana."

Sarah stared down at the perfectly manicured hand and slowly took her hand to shake it, "Have you escaped from the psyche ward or something?"

A bubbly laugh escaped the woman's lips, "No not at all hun! I guess you could describe me as being a little impulsive and strange, most do."

"A little?" Sarah gave her a questioning look.

Diana shrugged casually, "So I take it form your frustrated yell moments ago that you're not entirely happy."

"How can I be happy! I'm dying!" The girl must be mad.

"I a lot of patients are dying m'dear but they aren't all huffy and throwing magazines around the room." Silence filled the air for a moment, "So what are you…"

"Cancer." Sarah brushed a strand of her wig out of her face and the nurse nodded. "I only have two months left supposedly."

Diana's eyes scanned the room and she frowned, "No cards? Flowers? Balloons? Teddy bears?"

"No." Her eyes looked down. "I'm not exactly the most popular person…"

"Oh." Diana nodded again.

"Diana! Where are you!" An older and very irritated voice broke through the air just outside Sarah's room.

Becoming more alert Diana's eyes darted to the open door and she straightened up, "Coming!" She looked down to Sarah and gave a sweet smile, "I'll be back to visit you and no more tantrums, okay?" She quickly scampered out of the room and closed the door softly. A soft smile formed on Sarah's lip as she heard the voice scold Diana as she apologized repeatedly and she shook her head, "Strange woman."

A soft sigh escaped Sarah as she laid her head back onto her pillow. It had been a few days since her mother had been to visit. Her eyes looked over at her cell phone sitting beside the magazine. For a moment she laid there in thought. Her hand then reached over and picked it up and began dialling. She listened to the usual ringing until a voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey Karen."

Karen answered back reluctantly, "How are you feeling?"

"Alright, I guess."

"Oh."

Sarah paused, "I was wondering if you wanted to visit…and bring along Toby and Dad."

"Oh! Yes of course honey, we'll be right over." Her mother responded brightly.

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Sarah sighed and put the phone back. She picked up the framed picture of Toby and herself that had been on its front. It sometimes would hurt too much to be reminded of what she was going to be leaving behind. Her eyes scanned the room. Diana was right, it was bare. She frowned at the sight of the sick pale pink walls.

"_May I have this dance?" _

His beautiful velvet voice suddenly echoed in her mind.

Sarah let out an aggravated sigh, "Do you have to torment me in my dying days you stupid-" She was cut off as her family entered her room carrying flowers and a teddy bear. Her face lit up considerably at their presence and felt her heart lift at the fact that she would be distracted, even if it was for a little while. They grabbed some chairs and sat down beside her bed and placed their gifts around her room. They talked about their daily lives, what was going on at work and Toby talked about school and his friends. Some time later Sarah's parents left to grab dinner for the four of them, leaving Toby and herself alone. Silence filled the air as they both sat avoiding each other's eyes.

"When are you coming home Sarah?" Toby asked innocently while staring at his feet.

Sarah winced slightly; she knew this would've come up sooner or later, "Uh not for awhile kiddo. The doctors are still trying to make me better."

He nodded, "Will you get better?"

She didn't know whether to lie or tell the truth to her little brother. Give it to him now and let it sink in for a while or let him find out when… Sarah's eyes brimmed with tears, "Yeah… Of course…" She quickly wiped her eyes.

"Good." A smile formed on his lips. Sarah forced a smile and ruffled his ginger hair, just then her parents came back with dinner and Sarah let out a sigh of relief inside.

Time passed and eventually Sarah's family left. She lay in her bed waiting for sleep to claim her but remained unsuccessful for two hours. Constantly she would flop over, fluff her pillow and tug the blankets up to her chin. Too hot or too cold, nothing seemed to be working. Eventually she let out an annoyed sigh and pulled back the covers. She dragged a chair over to her window and sat down and looked outside. She had the view of the courtyard in the middle of the hospital. Unfortunately it was all bare except for glittering snow that covered the frozen earth. Her eyes began to search the courtyard, hoping she would see something.

"Looking for someone?" Sarah jumped and turned to see Diana standing beside her smiling.

"Oh! Diana don't sneak up on me like that!"

The woman gave a sheepish smile, "Sorry… So who are you looking for?"

A blush crept over Sarah's pale face as she realized she had been unconsciously searching for a certain someone.

"Aha! So you _are_ looking for someone, and I bet it's a man." She grinned. "So who is it?"

Jareth's face appeared in Sarah's mind and let she let out a hollow sigh. "It's… complicated…"

Diana eagerly pulled up a chair opposite of Sarah, "I have time, Hun."

Sarah's gazed out the window, "Well years ago I met this…guy and he was, I guess you could say, a jerk. He liked to trick me and play with my head and even tried to trick me by professing his love to me. I never believed any of it for a moment. Ever since our first and only meeting I've never seen him and I've never given him much thought. I like to think that I never even met him. But lately…whenever my mind begins to wonder he's my first and only thought. And-"

Diana interrupted, "Wait! You had only met him once and he professed his love to you?" Sarah nodded numbly. Diana let out a dreamy sigh, "How romantic…Keep going."

Sarah stared at her for a moment and gave a small smiled, as strange as Diana was, she found comfort in her. Sarah continued, "So he's been on my mind a lot lately, ever since…well, you know…" Sarah's eyes began to well and she gave a small laugh, "You know I doubt he even remembers me and here I am thinking about him all the time. It's… so…so… stupid." A tear ran down her cheek.

Diana's face softened, "Sounds like you want to see him at least one last time."

Sarah's eyes widened at the thought of this, "No! I couldn't possibly…No. He can't see me like this." She gestured to herself. "I'm a mess. I'm…I'm dying!" Finally Sarah broke down and she began to shake with sobs.

Immediately Diana held her and rubbed her back, "It's alright Sarah, let it all out…" Her walls were wearing down along with her body. She could fight as much as wanted but her days were numbered. As Diana held the broken woman, she glanced out the window and furrowed her brows as she saw a white owl, with the moonlight's rays casting off its feathers giving it an even more angelic look, flying away from the hospital with snow dancing around its graceful body. "She needs you…" She said barely above a whisper.


	3. Chapter 3

Two weeks had passed and Sarah was worse than ever and now the Doctors were giving her a couple weeks at the most. She laid her in bed, her zombie like gaze turned to the television. Her skin now had a yellow tinge to it, as if life was slowly being sucked out of her. Being stubborn as always she refused to remove her wig unless very necessary, to her it was the last piece of normalcy she had of herself. Diana appeared in her doorway with a tray of tasteless hospital food and pulled a chair up beside her bed before placing the tray down on the bedside table. Carefully she propped Sarah up with her pillows and gave her a gentle smile. Diana sat down and scooped up a spoonful of soup and held it to Sarah's mouth. Sarah's pale, cracked lips opened and received the warm liquid. This process continued for a few minutes with both women in silence.

Diana suddenly dropped the spoon onto the tray with a sharp _clank_, "Damn it, Sarah!" The sickly woman jumped slightly, startled by young Nurse's sudden outburst. Diana took a moment and exhaled slowly as she looked Sarah in the eye. "Please talk to him Sarah…before its too late." Her voice was strained and barely above a whisper.

Sarah's eyes wandered down to her dry hands that were wrung together and her face contorted with many different emotions before she found her words. "I just don't think it would be right for him to remember me this way."

"Sarah, just take the chance! If not for your own closure, but for his!" Diana's voice turned sour and she left the room quickly, frustrated with Sarah's stubbornness.

Even with all her warped whimsical romanced ideas, Diana was right. Ever since she had that dream her mind continued to wander back to the Goblin King and his mischievous smirk. For the last ten years she was able to move on and forget about the Labyrinth and its strange creatures and pass it off as a dream, but she knew better now. The more time she spent going over it again and again in her hospital bed, the more it came back to her, it had never been just a dream. If she was going to say goodbye, she had very limited time to do so. _Goodbye_. Her heart ached painfully over that word; for every day that passed, the weight of it grew heavier. She didn't want to say goodbye to anyone, especially him. But if it was going to be done, it would be tonight. Her eyes flickered to the digital clock on her nightstand. It was 6pm. She would wait until midnight and then call for him.

The hours seemed like days as Sarah tried to occupy her mind. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and was disgusted; she placed her wig on and glanced over at the time, it was 11:58. Slowly she padded over to the darker corner in her room; if possible she wanted to remain in the dark to hide her sickly ugliness. Involuntarily her body shivered as a soft breeze came through the window and penetrated the thin cotton hospital gown she wore. It was time. "Jareth the Goblin King, I…call for you." Her voice was barely above a whisper. Moments passed and she stood in the corner, pressing herself against the wall just wishing it would engulf her entirely.

A few moments passed in complete silence as she waited for any sign that her call had been acknowledged. Her sunken eyes searched the room for hint of movement and found none. Was the medicine making her delusional? Had she spent the last couple of weeks trying to convince herself that magic and Goblin Kings existed to try and get through the pain? She felt her stomach sink painfully and her eyes prickle with hot tears. She felt so stupid and naïve.

But before she could lose all hope, a strange bird-like cry came from outside. She perked up at the sound of a bird's wings flapping. Her heart began to pound. Was this real? If it were, would he even remember her after all these long years? Suddenly a majestic white owl flew into her room, its large wings beating rapidly before becoming engulfed in a cloud of glitter and smoke. He _was_ real. And he was here. Her breathing stalled as he transformed into his humanoid form. He was exactly as she remembered. His perfectly sculpted face with his staring mismatched eyes, blonde tendrils sticking out and his strange but lavish attire that added to his persona.

"Ah yes, dear Sarah." His perfect lips formed his infamous smirk, "It _has_ been awhile." His melodic voice sent shivers down her spine. His eyes focused on the dark figure of Sarah in the corner of the room hidden in shadows.

Sarah struggled to find her words, "Yes, and I see you haven't changed."

"And what have you called me here for? Another game perhaps?" His smirk grew.

"No…" She whispered, her voice hoarse. "No more games. I…I wanted to just see you one last time and say goodbye."

Confusion washed over his features as he stopped a moment and looked around the room. It dawned on him that this was no normal human bedroom. He peered closer into the shadows where young woman stood, "come into the light Sarah." He saw her shadowed form shake its head.

"Please…I…" She looked into the Goblin King's face, and saw confusion along with concern. Concern for her? Why would he be? She let out a small sigh and slowly crept into the moonlight with her head bowed down, scared to see his reaction. Her eyes stayed glued to the floor and she shut her eyes. Moments passed in silence before a gloved hand glided under her chin and carefully tilted it up to look up at his fair features. Sarah opened her eyes and saw a flurry of emotion in his eyes.

Never had Jareth seen a human like this. Sarah had barely any life in her and just standing before him was taking all her physical strength. Her once china doll like features were now broken. Her gaunt eyes held no spirit, they were now a dull jewel that refused to shine like once before. Her once porcelain skin now has pale with a deathly tinge to it. Her whole body looked as if it could fall to pieces at any second. He could barely find his words, for this sight before him took his breath away. "Sarah?"

"I just wanted to say goodbye Jareth." Sarah's voice trembled. "I'm…I'm dying…" Her legs began to tremble as sobs began to wrack her small frame. "I know its been years…" She struggled with her words as she only cried harder, "But…but I had this dream and all I could think of was…you. I had to be sure. I had to be sure that it was real all those years ago." She finally collapsed to the cold floor in a shaking heap.

"Sarah…" Jareth's heart fell as listened to her struggled words. It was no wonder that he had never heard from her; she had believed it all to be a dream after all these years. What she didn't know was that the Goblin King had never for one second forgot about her. Carefully he crouched down to take her petite hands in his and helped her back up, "How?"

Sarah's bloodshot eyes met his and she saw…she didn't know what she saw. For a moment pain, and then sadness, replaced by concern. "I have cancer; there is nothing the doctors can do…It's terminal." I chilling breeze came through the window and Jareth's cloak softly danced around his body as silence filled the air. This Jareth was different somehow, but strangely still the same. She couldn't put her finger on it. Would he have reacted like this all those years ago? Determination washed over his face.

"Sarah, come with me." His bold words hung in the cool air a moment.

"What?" She whispered.

"Leave this world and come back to the Underground with me." There was the tiniest hint of desperation laced in his whimsical voice.

Sarah's brows furrowed, "Jareth I…I don't know if I can do that."

His hand stroked the side of her face, "In the Underground you would become Fae, like myself and my people, and you would live for eternity. Start a new life Sarah, this one here is done." A tear rolled down her cheek and he gently wiped away with his thumb. "You may do as you please there." He whispered.

Her eyes widened at this. He would give her freedom? But this seemed familiar. He had made a similar proposal the last time she had seen him. She remembered how his face had crumpled in pain as she turned down his offer, but she had been too young at the time to truly understand the weight of that situation. But this was different. Sarah's small hand rose to her temple, "I need to think this over…" What about Toby? Her parents?

Jareth closed his eyes and stepped away from Sarah, "You have forty-eight hours to make your decision. I will be back for your answer precisely then." The wind suddenly began to blow furiously through the window and with a puff of glitter and smoke he vanished.

Sarah stared at the now empty space before her wide eyed. Her mind reeled at what had just taken place. Jareth had just stood before her and offered her a second chance at life. Could she accept such an offer? Who knew what life in the Underground would be like? She reached out for the wall for support as she began to feel light headed. She shut her eyes trying to find her balance, but had no such luck. A whimper escaped her lips as she open her eyes again trying to focus on the whirling world around her and make it to the bed only a few feet away. She screamed in her head with frustration as her body rebelled to do the most simple of tasks of putting one foot in front of another. Only one step was made before her body gave out and she collapsed to the ground once more, out cold.

Jareth gripped a crystal orb between his leather-clad fingers and watched in agony as Sarah crumpled to the floor in her hospital room. He was draped across a magnificent golden throne casually in a beautiful white marbled throne room that was a far cry from what Sarah remembered him in. A painful sigh hissed through his lips and he threw the crystal orb against the pale marble wall across grandiose room. It shattered into hundreds of pieces on impact and glittered on the floor, mocking him. "Either way, Sarah, you will be coming back with me. I won't loose you again…" He whispered and closed his eyes.

It wasn't all that much later when someone came to check up on Sarah that she was discovered and carefully was she returned to the bed by a couple of nurses. She finally came to a few hours later in a thick daze as her mind replayed the events that occurred that night. Her eyes gazed at a framed photo on her bedside of her and her family. Her time here was done, Jareth was right. But it would be hard to overcome moving on with a new life and her family mourning her death. She stared up at the tiled ceiling and turned his words over and over in her mind before succumbing to sleep once more.

Sarah had been in bed the last day still thinking through Jareth's offer. Sarah's gaze travelled to the door as her only friend in the building walked in carrying her dinner. She placed the tray on her bedside and drew a chair to Sarah's side. A soft smile graced her full lips as she eyed Sarah's thoughtful face. "He came, didn't he?" Sarah nodded numbly. Diana placed a hand on Sarah's and whispered, "Go with him, Sarah, it's the only way." Sarah's eyes widened in confusion, "Don't ask how I know." Silence filled the air for the rest of her visit as she helped feed Sarah.

A sheen of cold sweat covered Sarah's face giving her a waxy look. Hours ago her body had begun to give up. It started with a severe pain throughout her body and vomiting, and just recently she was beginning to have delusions as she was having a hard time separating her dreams from reality. There was only a few hours left until Jareth's return and she wasn't going to make it. Diana walked into Sarah's room in a sullen mood, knowing her friend didn't have much time left. Sarah's eyes grew frantic as she saw her, "Diana I must get to the roof, please!" Her weak voice pleaded with the woman.

"Sarah, what are you talking about?" The nurse walked over to her bed. She knew Sarah was in a delusional state.

"I must get to the roof, please!" Tears rolled down her pale face, "I want to feel the cold fresh air just one more time…" Her voice cracked, "and watch the snowflakes fall down…"

Diana's hand covered her mouth as she stifled a small cry and she shook her head. Quickly, she walked over to the door to see if anyone occupied the hallway, making sure the coast was clear before returning to Sarah's side. She unfolded the wheelchair by the bed and pushed it over to the side and carefully helped the breakable woman into it. Carefully Diana wheeled Sarah out of the room and began to walk briskly to the elevator, praying there was no one inside. Once they reached their destination she pushed the up button and waited impatiently for the elevator. Thankfully the doors opened and the elevator appeared to be empty. They got in and pushed the rooftop level button.

"_As such a sad love, deep in your eyes…" _


End file.
